The Bombacaceae are a tropical family which developed particularly richly in America. The representatives are trees, often with a thick stem (bottle trees) in which water is stored. The leaves are digiate or undivided. The flowers are frequently very big and showy. The fruits are capsules; the nude seeds are often embedded in a woolly mass, the hairs of the pericarp, which supply kapok (Ceiba pentandra). The endosperm is weakly developed or completely absent. Mucilaginous ducts are often present. Stellate hairs and scales are also frequent. Important genera of South America are Ceiba, Ochroma and Chorisia. The trees are usually very large with enormous buttresses and very thick trunks. Very little is known of the chemistry of this family.

South American medicinal plants : botany, remedial properties, and general use / I. Roth, H. Lindorf. Berlin ; New York : Springer, c2002. -- p. 492.